Beyond Protest Events: Engagement Event Analysis of the Lisbon Housing Movement (2012–2020)

Literature on social movement has been paying increasing attention to activities beyond large and impactful events. As this research has shown, movement actors engage in a broader spectrum of activities that maintain mobilization, sustain networks, and amplify political influence during less visible phases. Methods such as the Protest Event Analysis, by concentrating on public protest events, often overlook these activities. To address this methodological gap, this paper introduces the Engagement Event Analysis, supported by the concept of repertoire of engagement, a quantitative framework designed to systematically capture movement activities beyond protest events. Applying this method, the paper examines the Lisbon housing rights movement from 2012 to 2020, a period marked by heightened mobilization. Based on our dataset, the analysis shows that protest events only account for a small part of their overall activities, with much of their focus on recreational and community-building, media and digital advocacy, organizing, and institutional participation. Moreover, we identify two distinct engagement profiles: 1) contentious mobilizers, whose protest emerges cyclically, being then followed by backstage activities; 2) and institutional advocates, consistently engaged through institutional dialogues, media interventions, and debates. Through this methodology, this article contributes to social movement scholarship by offering a systematic and quantitative understanding of activism that moves beyond visible protest-centric analyses, highlighting how social movement processes are sustained through diverse engagement activities.